The convention of mapping historical chronologies in the form of straight, measured lines is ubiquitous. Yet, like the conventions of historical narrative, this graphic convention has a complex history. This paper explores the emergence of the timeline and related graphic forms in the context of the development of print media and examines the relationship between these developments and that of the modern historical imagination.

Daniel Rosenberg is Associate Professor of History in the Robert D. Clark Honors College at the University of Oregon. With Anthony Grafton he is author of Cartographies of Time (Princeton Architectural Press, 2010).